The Lives of Legends
by Rosie Rubix
Summary: Drabble series on the years post-S3. Uncommon colds, 6 year old Tenzin & NEW CHAPTER: Used To. A little bit maudlin, this one. Katara's thoughts on Zuko.
1. Uncommon Colds

One drabble. One hundred words. No waiting. Hopefully a few laughs.

Disclaimer: First, I don't own this show. It makes me sad. But if I did, I would be Nickelodeon, so I would also own, *shudder*, Spongebob. All in all, I think it evens out.

Katara sighed, closed her eyes and wished on Tui and La for a cure to the common cold.

Because _of course_ Aang would catch one the day before Zuko and Mai came to visit.

And _naturally_ they would catch it too.

Every time Aang sneezed, he created a cyclone of snot. Joy.

Airbender colds are bad.

But Zuko was worse.

Firebender colds require pitchers of water and fireproof sheets.

Katara sighed again. Then she sneezed. Then she scowled at the needle-sharp shards of ice embedded in the stone wall, and wished for warmer weather.

Or some Arctic hen soup.


	2. Served

I disclaim everything. I do not own it, nor make money from it. Shame for me, really.

Tenzin was six years and one day old when he ran to his father, screaming that _Uncle Zuko is trying to kill Mommy and_ _what are you going to DO, Daddy?_

Aang's first instinct (_what?_) was followed swiftly by _why? How? _and _I am about half a second from the Avatar state right now. _

Instead of giving voice to any of these thoughts, he simply said, 'Where?', picked up his son and his staff, and sprinted out of the building towards the sound of fire blasts.

Skidding to a stop in one of the many courtyards of the Southern Air Temple, Aang let his eyes adjust to the bright sunshine, and smiled.

'It's all right, Tenzin,' he said, dropping the staff. He knelt, holding his weeping son close and stroking his hair. 'They're not really fighting. Mommy's fine, they're just playing, okay?'

Admittedly, Aang reflected, if he had been Tenzin and had sneaked out of the house to see his mother ducking fire blasts, he would have panicked too. But this was an old game, one with its roots in the distant past when Zuko was an ally, but not yet a friend. Though their sparring lacked the bone-deep intuition that Aang shared with his wife, Zuko and Katara knew each other well. They had begun with long, snaking elemental whips, flashing steam whenever they came too close together. But this long-range dance of fire and water had apparently gotten old, and Zuko had moved to closer quarters to force Katara on the defensive.

But it seemed that Katara had picked up some Airbending-style moves since their last encounter. Zuko would swing, or kick, or punch, but Katara was just...never there, moving in a swirl of light blue robes with the grace of a dancer. Right cross, left uppercut, leaping kick, a full-on fire blast, and Katara danced out of the way, sweating profusely and breathing heavily, but grinning like a loon while Toph and Mai looked on, snickering. Zuko was panting, and laughing, and losing. After a moment's consideration, he gave up on Firebending, waiting for Katara to sweep a little closer.

As she spotted her husband and son and waved, he struck. A fire-assisted leap, impossibly fast, had the master Waterbender pinned to the ground on her front, arms pinned to her sides, Zuko facing her feet. From this privileged position he tickled her bare toes until she screeched, flinging a wave of water at him that carried him into the air. Leaping to her feet, she swept the water down with unerring accuracy, bearing him unceremoniously into the lap of his (now drenched) wife. Toph, who had been sitting a little too close to Mai, was similarly soaked.

There was a split second of absolute silence, then all four of them started to laugh with an enthusiasm bordering on hysteria; Katara collapsed onto her back on the sodden ground, Toph, dripping on her self-made earth chair, Zuko and Mai in a soaking tangle of limbs. Aang started to laugh, too, and even Tenzin joined in after satisfying himself that Mommy was fine and nobody was dying. After a minute or two the laughter died away, and Tenzin and Aang made their way across the impromptu arena. As Tenzin hugged his mother, a thought occurred to him.

'Uncle Zuko got _served!_' he announced cheerfully, as if he had figured out a tricky conundrum. As everyone exploded into laughter again, Aang beamed.

'Yes, son,' he replied cheerfully, kissing his giggling wife, 'he did.'


	3. Chapter 3

Contrary to popular belief, those who are legends rarely live long, happy lives.

But Katara knows this.

She knows that, unlike King Bumi or General Iroh or even Monk Gyatso, she and her family will not have a hundred and ten, a hundred and twenty years to laugh, and love, and be happy. But that doesn't mean that she can't try.

' A life that's not so long can still be happy' she tells her husband, and he nods and smiles at her, not quite understanding.

But Katara understands. She sees Aang grow older and she worries, a little. She knows that one hundred years in an iceberg has likely shortened his life. But she has no idea by how much. So they seize every day like it might be the last one, and create joy wherever they can.

'We're not going to live to be a hundred' she tells Sokka one day, and he scoffs and shrugs in typical Sokka fashion. Why would he think that far ahead? He'll live to be plenty old, he tells her. And he does, so maybe she needn't have worried.

But Katara remembers. She remembers Zuko being shot with lightning, remembers that Mai and Ty Lee and Suki have all been imprisoned at one point or another, remembers that saving the world is a serious business, and that there is always a price.

'We will make this life a happy one' she swears to Toph, two weeks after Tenzin is born. And Toph laughs and agrees.

But Katara senses. She knows the human body, knows its weaknesses and strengths. She has sensed every part of the bodies of her friends as intimately as any lover, what with all the time she's spent healing them. She knows that Toph wasn't just born blind; she was born half-dead, and so her parents got into the habit of protecting her from everything. She recovered long before they met her, and she will live a full life. A joyous life. A happy life. But it will not be a life that spans a century.

'We have ushered in an era of great peace, and we will restore the prosperity of the Nations,' Zuko announces in a speech ten years after Sozin's Comet.

But Katara wonders if the world is ready for peace. They've had a little, and it has been more wonderful than any of them could have ever imagined. But there are always those who wish to seize power for themselves.

Sometimes Katara thinks about all these things, late at night when the rest of her family are asleep. No amount of tossing and turning will resolve them; the future will be what it will be, and it will come one day at a time.

To get back to sleep, she resolves to make tomorrow better than today.

And Katara dreams with a smile on her face.

Those who are legends rarely live long, happy lives.

She is determined to make them all exceptions.

Author's note: First, I disclaim everything. I don't own ATLA. It is sad for me.

The Legend of Korra is going to take place seventy years in the future. The new Avatar is fourteen. And all the original cast have died. That means that Aang died aged 68, and the rest were, at most, 86 (assuming they died the year it takes place). In a world where King Bumi is about 110 and showing no signs of slowing down, that made me sad. Though doing the maths made me realise they all live pretty long lives for a world with no proper medicine that's only just entering its industrial age. So I feel better knowing that. Still, I wondered how Katara would feel about it. She's the healer of the group, and she knows the human body. She probably knows that being frozen for a century, shot with lightning, imprisoned, tortured, a soldier, a struggling survivor...not things liable to contribute to dying of extreme old age. So these were my thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own A:TLA. And this is a most maudlin chapter. You may cry. I nearly did.

She used to hate him. But now she thinks he might be all right. It was painful at first. Forgiveness is. But (and Aang, as usual, was right) it's the good kind of pain. The kind that brings healing in its wake, instead of rotting, seething resentment.

She used to hate him. But now she definitely doesn't.

In fact, now she thinks that they might count as...friends. She cheers at his coronation, and there is hope welling up within her. She beams at his wedding, holding tight to Aang's hand and crying, a little, because it's so beautiful and so true and so right.

She used to hate him. But now they're friends for life.

She and Aang travel the world, and have Tenzin, and visit as often as they can. And together they feed the turtleducks, and talk about life and the universe and everything. And especially about old times, because reminiscing is a comfort in a changing world. And sometimes they fight, for fun, and sometimes he wins. And sometimes she wins. And once, he let her win. And she threatened to beat him with a stick if he ever did it again. He never did.

She used to hate him. But now they're family.

The years go by, and they get older, and slower, and there are rumblings of dissent in the world, a stirring of hatred against Benders, and things are going to get a bit hairy.

She used to hate him. But now she fears for him.

And, when the end comes, as peaceful as it can be for what it is, she weeps at his funeral because she has lost one of her best friends. A brother in arms. The one who offered her a lifeline when she lost her husband, and then her brother, and then Toph and Suki (her sisters, always her sisters). She holds Mai as they sob, privately, because the Fire Lady can show no weakness, even now. She smiles bravely at his daughter's coronation, and wishes the girl (the woman; the good, strong, brave woman, so much like her parents) the blessings of the Moon and the Ocean. And the new Fire Lord thanks her, and the pain of love shines in both their eyes.

She used to hate him. But now there is nothing but love.

She lies dying, an old woman with a story that has become legend, and she waits. It is not long before the Spirit World opens up to her, and she sees her darling, her Aang, the love of her life. She sees her brother, smiling and welcoming. She sees Suki. She sees Toph. Her father, young and whole again. Her mother, embracing her, after so long apart. Mai, smiling for once, for here there is no need to hide. Ty Lee, upside down and beaming. And Zuko, her dear friend, his face whole again for here no evil can touch them. 'You're the last one to the party' he says, tears of joy running down all their cheeks. 'We saved you a seat.'

She used to hate him. But no more.


End file.
